Protective garment having outer title shell, inner liner and standards indicia

ABSTRACT

A protective garment having an outer shell, when worn without an inner liner, conforms to and displays, on the outer shell, an indicium or indicia that the protective garment conforms to at least one standard for protective garments, such as NFPA 1999 (03), NFPA 1951 (01), or both. When worn within the protective garment, the inner liner causes the protective garment to conform to and displays an indicium or indicia that the protective garment conforms to at least one standard, which is a different standard, for protective garments, such as NFPA 1971 (00). When the inner liner is worn within the outer shell, a tag displaying the indicium or indicia displayed on the inner liner is manipulatable and is attachable detachably to the outer shell, via coactive elements, such as coactive elements of a hook-and-loop fastener, so as to mask the indicium or indicia displayed by the outer shell but so as to display the indicium or indicia displayed by the inner liner.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention pertains to a protective garment, such as a protectivecoat, protective pants, protective coveralls, or protective overalls,which is worn by a firefighter or by an emergency rescue worker.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

As exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 5,038,410, the disclosure of which isincorporated by reference herein, it is known to provide a protectivegarment, which has an outer shell and a thermal liner, with a tabextending from the thermal liner. The tab is attachable detachably tothe outer shell, as an indicator that the thermal liner is being wornwithin the outer shell.

Other protective garments having liner-detecting or liner-indicationfeatures are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,507,806, No. 4,774,725, No.4,768,233, and No. 4,817,210 (which are discussed in columns 1 and 2 ofU.S. Pat. No. 5,038,410) and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,386,438.

As exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 6,339,843 B1, the disclosure of which isincorporated by reference herein, it is known for a protective garmenthaving an outer shell, a thermal liner, and a liner including a moisturebarrier to be selectively configured with neither liner attached withinthe outer shell, with either liner attached within the outer shell, orwith both liners attached within the outer shell.

At a firefighting or other emergency incident, it is important forresponsible personnel, such as incident commanders and safety officers,quickly to ascertain whether the protective garments worn by personnelresponding to the incident are appropriate for the incident.

Commonly, such personnel refer to National Fire Protection Association(NFPA) standards, which currently include NFPA 1999 (03) for “ProtectiveClothing for Emergency Medical Operations”, which commonly andhereinafter is abbreviated as NFPA 1999, NFPA 1992 (00) for “LiquidSplash-Protective Clothing for Hazardous Materials Emergencies”, whichcommonly and hereinafter is abbreviated as NFPA 1992, NFPA 1977 (98) for“Protective Clothing and Equipment for Wildland Fire Fighting”, whichcommonly and hereinafter is abbreviated as NFPA 1977, NFPA 1971 (00)“Protective Ensemble for Structural Firefighting”, which commonly andhereinafter is abbreviated as NFPA 1971, and NFPA 1951 (01) for“Protective Ensemble for USAR Operations”, which commonly andhereinafter is abbreviated as NFPA 1951. USAR is an acronym for UrbanSearch and Rescue.

Broadly, for a protective garment to conform to NFPA (1977), theprotective garment must have an outer shell but does not have to have aliner providing a moisture barrier or a thermal liner. Broadly, for aprotective garment to conform to NFPA 1999, to NFPA 1992, or to NFPA1951, the protective garment must have a liner providing a moisturebarrier, as well as an outer shell, but does not have to have a thermalliner. Broadly, for a protective garment to conform to NFPA 1971, theprotective garment must have an outer shell, a liner providing amoisture barrier, and a thermal liner.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention combines a protective garment, which has an outer shell,and a liner, which is wearable within the protective garment. Theprotective garment is wearable without the liner. When worn without orwithout the liner, the protective garment displays an indicium orindicia that the protective garment conforms to at least one standardfor protective garments. The liner, when worn within the protectivegarment, displays an indicium or indicia that the protective garmentconforms to at least one standard, which is a different standard, forprotective garments.

Preferably, when the liner is worn within the protective garment, theindicium or indicia displayed by the inner liner is manipulatable so asto mask the indicium or indicia displayed by the protective garment whenworn with or without the liner. The indicium or indicia displayed by theliner may be thus displayed on a tag, which extends from the liner andwhich, when the liner is worn within the outer shell, is manipulatableso as to mask the indicium or indicia displayed by the protectivegarment when worn with or without the liner but so as to display theindicium or indicia displayed by the liner. Preferably, the tag, whenmanipulated so as to mask the indicium or indicia displayed by theprotective garment when worn with or without the liner, is attachabledetachably to the outer shell. Preferably, the tag is attachabledetachably to the outer shell, via coactive elements on the outer shelland on the tag respectively.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary, partly broken away, front view of a protectiveensemble including a protective coat, which comprises an outer shall, anintermediate liner providing a moisture barrier, and a thermal liner andin which the outer shell displays indicia (“1999” and “1951”) which areabbreviated indications that the protective coat, when worn with orwithout the thermal liner, conforms to two relevant standards, namely,NFPA 1999 and NFPA 1951. FIG. 2 is a similar view, wherein a tagextending from the thermal liner has been manipulated and has beenattached detachably to the outer shell, via coacting hook-and-loopelements, so as mask the indicia displayed by the protective coat but soas to display an indicium (“1971”) that the protective coat conforms toa different standard, namely, NFPA 1971.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENT

As illustrated, a protective ensemble for a firefighter comprises aprotective coat 10, a pair of protective pants 12, and a pair ofprotective gloves 14, only one of which is illustrated. The protectivecoat 10 comprises an outer shell 20, an intermediate liner 22 providinga moisture barrier, and a thermal liner 30, which is wearable within theprotective coat 10 and which, as illustrated, is being worn within theintermediate liner 22. The protective coat 10 is wearable without thethermal liner 30.

A fabric tab 40 is attached, as by stitching, to the thermal liner 30 soas to extend from a lower edge 32 of the thermal liner 30. The fabrictab 40 has an expansive surface 42 facing outwardly when the fabric tab40 is allowed to hang freely from the thermal liner 30 and an expansivesurface 44 facing inwardly when the fabric tab 40 is allowed to hangfreely from the thermal liner 30.

A hook-and-loop attaching means, such as a Velcro™ fastener, isprovided, which comprises a hook-faced, fabric panel 52 and aloop-faced, fabric panel 54. The hook-faced, fabric panel 52 isattached, as by stitching, adhesively, or in both ways, to an endportion 46 of the fabric tab 40, so as to face facing outwardly when thefabric tab 40 is allowed to hang freely from the thermal liner 30, asillustrated in FIG. 1. The loop-faced, fabric panel 54 is attached, asby stitching, adhesively, or in both ways, to the outer shell 20 so asto face outwardly.

A smaller, fabric panel 60 is attached, as by stitching, to theloop-faced, fabric panel 54, so as to cover a central portion of theloop-faced, fabric panel 54 but so as not to cover outer, marginalportions of the loop-faced, fabric panel 54. In an alternativeembodiment, which is not illustrated, the smaller, fabric panel 60 issewn to the outer shell 20, beneath the loop-faced, fabric panel 54. Thefabric tab 40 can be upwardly folded (manipulated) from its freelyhanging position, as illustrated in FIG. 1, to an upwardly foldedposition, as illustrated in FIG. 2. In the upwardly folded position ofthe fabric tab 40, the end portion 46 of the fabric tab 40 covers theloop-faced, fabric panel 54, so as to mask the smaller, fabric panel 60,and outer, marginal portions of the hook-faced, fabric panel coact withouter, marginal portions of the loop-faced, fabric panel 54, so as toattach the end portion 46 of the fabric tab 40 detachably to the outershell 20.

The smaller, fabric panel 60 displays two indicia, namely, “1999” and“1951”. The indicium “1999” is an abbreviated indicium that theprotective coat 10, when worn without the thermal liner 30, conforms toNFPA 1999. The indicium “1951 is an abbreviated indicium that theprotective coat 10, when worn without the thermal liner 30, conforms toNFPA 1951. In the upwardly folded position of the fabric tab 40, thehook-faced, fabric panel 52 masks the indicia displayed by the smaller,fabric panel 60.

The fabric tab 40 displays an indicium “1971” on the end portion 46, soas to face inwardly when the fabric tab 40 is allowed to hand freely, asillustrated in FIG. 1. In the upwardly folded position of the fabric tab40, when the end portion 46 of the fabric tab 40 masks the indiciadisplayed by the smaller, fabric panel 60, the indicium “1971” displayedby the fabric tab 40 faces outwardly. The indicium “1971” is anabbreviated indicium that the protective coat 10, which comprises theouter shell 20 and the thermal liner 30, conforms to NFPA 1971.

Although this invention, as illustrated and as described above, isembodied in a protective coat, this invention can be similarly embodiedin protective garments of different types, such as protective pants,protective overalls, or protective coveralls.

1. A protective garment comprising an outer shell and combined with aliner, the protective garment being wearable without the liner, wherein,when worn without the inner liner, the protective garment displays anindicium or indicia that the protective garment conforms to at least onestandard for protective garments, and wherein the liner, when wornwithin the outer shell, displays an indicium or indicia that theprotective garment conforms to at least one standard, which is adifferent standard, for protective garments.
 2. The protective garmentof claim 1, wherein, when the liner is worn within the protectivegarment, the indicium or indicia displayed by the liner is manipulatableso as to mask the indicium or indicia displayed by the protectivegarment when worn without the liner.
 3. The protective garment of claim2, wherein the indicium or indicia displayed by the liner is displayedor are displayed on a tag, which extends from the inner liner and which,when the inner liner is worn within the protective garment, ismanipulatable so as to mask the indicium or indicia displayed by theprotective garment when worn without the liner.
 4. The protectivegarment of claim 3, wherein the tag, when manipulated so as to mask theindicium or indicia displayed on the outer shell, is attachabledetachably to the outer shell.
 5. The protective garment of claim 4,wherein the tag is attachable detachably to the outer shell, viacoactive elements on the outer shell and on the tag respectively.